10 Fun & Interesting Facts About Polar Bears

Updated on May 12, 2012

1. Polar Bears are the largest of the bear family. They have been known to get as large as 1000 kilograms. However, the Kodiak bear is also known to get large the polar bears are usually overshadowing them.

2. Polar bears are usually located in icy regions of the north Arctic. They have no natural predators and the only threat that they encounter is global warming and from humans. They have been put on the endangered list because of the wide variety of poachers that make money from them.

3. Polar bears are kings of swimming. The fat that they have that surrounds their skeleton is quite thick. Allowing them to swim in the coldest oceans. In some of the larger polar bears, it is known to more than 10 cm thick. Polar bears are also know to swim quite a long ways and have been even found in the middle of the ocean by boats. This is because of the very large paws they have that can reach in sizes of 30 cm. They are able to hold their breath under water for more than 3 minutes and can swim faster than it walks.

4. Newly born baby cubs are about 40 cm long when born. They usually only weigh less than a few pounds. They are totally dependent on the mother polar bear for warmth and protection until they can see and walk. When they leave the den they can be as much as 100 pounds.

5. The polar bear has two different layers of fur the upper layer is not actually white but translucent and hollow. It appears white due to the reflection of the sun on the hairs of the fur.

6.They are extremely well protected against the harsh arctic air. They experience no heat loss so if they over exert themselves too much they can actually have a heatstroke and over heat if they do not take time to calm down.

7.They have a unique and acute sense of smell. They can smell food up to two miles away. Their sense of smell is good when searching large snowy areas they can smell food more than 1 meter under the snow.

8.The Polar bears large paws help them distribute the weight evenly across large soft snow and thin ice. This helps them walk over these areas without breaking the ice or the top snow layer. The paws are covered in, fine hairs and the claws are used to help them keep their grip on the snow and ice. They will not slip easily across icy terrain.

9.The Polar bear actually has black skin and can only be seen when you lift the paws o the bear up. It helps them absorb and keep in the heat on the colder arctic nights.

10.Polar bears are not know to be territorial hunters and will usually wait quite awhile for food to come up. For example, they will travel many miles to a seals area and wait hours if necessary for one to poke its head out of the water. It does not drink water because it gets all the liquid it needs form what it eats.

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